The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has completed nine of the 14 major statutory activities outlined in its revised timetable for the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Friday in Abuja when he received a pre-election fact-finding mission from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by former Vice-President of Sierra Leone, Victor Bockarie Foh.

The delegation, co-led by former Executive Secretary of ECOWAS and former Speaker of the Parliament of Sierra Leone, Dr Abbas Chernor Bundu, visited the commission to assess its level of preparedness for the 2027 general elections.

Amupitan said the commission had successfully completed nine of the 14 statutory milestones, including three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and the physical display of the Preliminary Register of Voters nationwide.

He said INEC had also uploaded the preliminary register on its dedicated online portal to enable members of the public to scrutinise the list and make claims and objections ahead of the certification of the final register on December 15, 2026.

The INEC chairman said the commission’s National Register of Voters had crossed 103 million, adding that the 2027 elections would cover 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, 774 local government areas, 8,809 registration areas and 176,846 polling units.

He said the presidential and National Assembly elections would hold on January 16, 2027, while governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections were scheduled for February 6, 2027.

On preparations, Amupitan said the commission had adopted a field-based approach through zonal readiness assessment tours across the six geopolitical zones to assess logistics, infrastructure and operational capacity.

He said the commission had concluded assessments in the South-West, North-West, South-East and North-East, adding that the South-South assessment would take place in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

According to him, the tours provide an opportunity to engage directly with electoral officers, inspect facilities and consult traditional and community leaders.

On technology, the INEC chairman said the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would be deployed for fingerprint and facial biometric accreditation, while the commission’s electronic result management systems, including the newly introduced eEC8A electronic verification platform, would enhance transparency in result management.

He added that the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) would provide a platform for public verification of results transmitted from polling units.

Amupitan also said the commission had strengthened staff welfare through the approval of the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS) and a 150 per cent increase in state operational overheads.

He, however, warned that the commission would not tolerate administrative negligence, extortion or partisan conduct by its personnel.

On election security, he said INEC was working with security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to implement an intelligence-driven framework aimed at identifying and addressing potential threats before election day.

He said the framework, known as the ICCES Tentacle, was designed to secure polling units, protect electoral personnel, particularly members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and ensure that persons with disabilities and other voters could access polling units without hindrance.

Earlier, the head of the ECOWAS delegation, Foh, said the mission was in Nigeria to assess INEC’s preparations and readiness for the forthcoming general elections.

He urged the commission to ensure strict compliance with every aspect of the electoral process, stressing the need to leave no stone unturned in carrying all stakeholders along.

Foh said the credibility of the elections would depend on the commission’s ability to ensure that all relevant processes were followed and stakeholders were adequately involved.

(Weekend Trust)